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Jaire Alexander (CB, Louisville) was the Packers' pick at No. 18 overall in the 2018 NFL draft. Green Bay originally had the 14th pick and traded twice in the first round before drafting Alexander. Matthew Emmons, USA TODAY Sports

The Green Bay Packers traded their first-round draft pick in 2017, but Kevin King (CB, Washington) was the first of two picks in the second round and 33rd pick overall. Adam Wesley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wi

The Green Bay Packers traded their first-round draft pick in 2008, but Jordy Nelson (WR, Kansas State) was the first of three second-round draft picks for the Packers and the 36th pick overall. Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.

One of the most eagerly awaited yet questionably impactful events on the National Football League schedule takes place starting tomorrow night as the annual college draft convenes in Dallas.

If there was ever a draft in which the Green Bay Packers need to hit it big, it’s this one with 12 picks in all and the highest first-round spot since they selected B.J. Raji with the ninth overall pick in 2009.

It will be the first time that new general manager Brian Gutekunst will oversee the proceedings and every Packers fan is praying for some beginner’s luck.

He’ll need it because success in the draft never comes easy. I don’t care what draft it is, because I struggled picking Little League talent and never could get the hang of fantasy football.

Scanning the history of Packers drafts reveals a consistent pattern of poor to mediocre results. If you look at the past 10 drafts, the team has only 15 players on its roster who were taken among its top three picks. Eight of those have come in the past three drafts, meaning they are still playing on their rookie contracts.

Rarely do the Packers hit it big at the top of the draft. You’d have to go back to 2006 to the last time the team scored well by taking A.J. Hawk, Daryn Colledge and Greg Jennings. A year earlier, Aaron Rodgers and Nick Collins made that a successful draft. I know that’s only two but Rodgers counts for two.

New general manager Brian Gutekunst will get his first swing at conducting the NFL draft for the Green Bay Packers.(Photo: Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWOR)

Ron Wolf didn’t fare a whole lot better during his tenure as general manager but he made up for it with some great trades and some talented late-round picks like Donald Driver in 1999.

The best draft of the title-drought era may have been 1978 when James Lofton, John Anderson and Estus Hood were taken in the first three rounds.

Vince Lombardi was one of football’s great coaches but his drafts contributed to the franchise’s ultimate decline. Still, 1966 was worth noting with Jim Grabowski and Gale Gillingham being the top two selections. Dave Robinson and Tom Brown were atop the 1963 list.

Packers fans can only hope Gutekunst has some Jack Vainisi in him. A virtual one-man personnel department in the 1950s and little known during some of the franchise’s darkest days, Vainisi put together a string of great drafts.

Beginning in 1956, he tagged Forrest Gregg and Bob Skoronski early and Bart Starr near the bottom. Paul Hornung and Ron Kramer were the top two picks in 1957, and then in 1958 he helped coordinate one of the greatest drafts ever. Hall of Famers Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke and Jerry Kramer were selected in the first four rounds.

Can Gutekunst pull off something remotely close to that? Nobody has for the past 60 years, so it’s not likely to happen this weekend.

But with a far more favorable position and what is expected to be another run on quarterbacks at the beginning of the draft, the Packers should be in a great position to address their defensive shortcomings with the 14th pick.

Again, the Packers will attack their greatest need and will take a defensive back. Look for either Florida State safety Derwin James or a couple of Big Ten cornerbacks, Iowa’s Josh Jackson or Ohio State’s Denzel Ward.

The Packers may have to trade one of their surplus of picks to move up and get one but I think Jackson will fall to 14 and into the Packers’ lap.

Jon Gast writes a weekly sports column for the Advocate. He can be reached at jsgastatgmail.com.